Dessert By Candy

Revisiting Bouillabaisse

2013 is coming to an end and I did a mental tally of a year filled with highs and lows. I am glad to close the books on this one and look forward to better times ahead. Have you made dinner plans for New Year’s Eve yet? It feels right to be a little festive, a little celebratory. But I would be nuts to drag myself out to a restaurant and pay for overpriced set menus. Here is my lazy take on bouillabaisse, conveniently scaled down to serve just two people. It is easy to make with just the right amount of extravagance. If you still haven’t made dinner plans for tonight, why not stop by the grocery store to pick up some seafood? I love that it tastes vibrant and is loaded with healthy ingredients at the same time. Kicking off the new year resolution one day early can’t possibly be a bad thing.

Get the recipe after the jump…

For The Coffee Table

This year I developed a habit of keeping a tray of candies on the coffee table. It tricks me into thinking that my home is ready for company any time. They are aspirational to my fantasy of being a calm cool and collected hostess. As if that will ever happen.

Thankfully my sweet tooth is not really tempted by the array of sweets. I can easily spend a whole evening watching television without reaching for the candy tray. What it really does is to give myself a legitimate reason to buy and make candies. I went through a soft caramel phase (vegan or not) earlier this year and the result of those experiments lasted a long time. Candied orange peels felt somewhat healthy to snack on. Chocolate hearts with caramelized rice krispies and dried cherries were pretty to look at and even better in the mouth. Alas, my candy tray felt a little forlorn recently with only store-bought candies at the ready.

My original plan for the Christmas holidays involved tackling The Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook. By now I think it is safe to say that my plan did not work out. Yesterday afternoon I was glued to the US Olympics Long Track team trial on television. I was cheering for many former inline skaters who took to the ice to chase their Olympics dream. Of course I started feeling restless from my slow post-surgery recovery. I had to do something, anything. I decided to check one item off my to-make list. In hindsight, it probably would make much more sense if I hopped on the bike for an hour instead.

Cheap Thrills

As much as I love a good deal, I am not the door crasher type. Lining up in front of a store at ungodly hours for a chance to score a deal? Thanks but no thanks. That’s why it was very uncharacteristic of me to round up a few girlfriends for Fashion Crimes’ Boxing Day sale. I found out through the grapevine that the store is moving and everything is discounted at 60% off. I love designer Pam Chorley’s girly party dresses and the halter cut Jezebel Tivoli Mini is one of my favourite pieces in my wardrobe. With most of the dresses regularly priced over $300, the sale is tempting all on its own. For added temptation, they advertised door crasher deal of $50 fill-a-bag for first 50 customers on Boxing Day.

My friends and I are on the same page about lining up in front of the store. We decided to arrive half hour ahead of the store’s 11am opening time and just let the chips fall. It was not ridiculously early. If the line up was already more than 50, we would go for breakfast and come back for their regular sale. If we luck out to be among the first 50, we wouldn’t have to stand in the cold too long either. Perfect plan.

Merry Christmas From Me To You

Ice Storm 2013

For many of us in Southern Ontario, the ice storm that battered the area over the last few days has been challenging. The aftermath of the storm left many without power. Road hazards include slick surface, fallen trees, large shards of ice falling from buildings, and numerous broken live power lines. I am one of the few fortunate ones without interruption to power nor property damage. I am incredibly grateful.

I ventured outside a few times but my car firmly remained in the garage. No way would I consider navigating the traffic under these circumstances. The normally short walk to grocery store was long and treacherous with the sidewalk completely covered in thick smooth ice. I could have easily lace up my ice skates and glide over. Little Brother and I tried our best to clear ice off the walkway and sidewalk in front of home. After 5 hours of relentless work, we admitted defeat and went inside for cake and hot chocolate. At first it was somewhat amusing. Ice shattered like toffee when I attacked it with a steel garden spade. But then temperature fluctuated around the freezing point and it started drizzling rain. My hard-earned territory quickly turned back to one solid piece of ice and it stopped being fun.

I Call This Strategy

Unlike previous years, my home has hardly any holiday baked treats. Chalk it up to zero motivation, reduced mobility, or whatever excuse of the day, the only cookies in the house are the packaged kind. I am not eager to correct the situation either. Make no mistake, my appetite is begging for holiday cookies. I am simply not giving in.

Experience told me that I do not tend to gain weight during the holiday season. It is the dreaded month of January when I really pack on the pounds. Change in training volume is a plausible reason but I suspect the real culprit is the lax discipline following a month of seemingly harmless indulgence. Since my holiday spirit is lacking anyway, I may as well take the chance for an experiment. Reduce indulgence in December, maintain my weight in January.

Comfort Me With Curry

I am going through another emotional rough patch (again?!) and it is taking all my strength to stay mum. It’s been over three weeks, coincidentally overlapping with my post-surgery recovery. One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. For the sake of my own health, I put in my best effort to stay positive, take good care of myself, and put on a happy face. My social calendar is packed. But the usual tricks of cooking, dining, and shopping all taste a little flat, like a glass of champagne left out overnight.

Going through the motion does not inspire creativity in the kitchen. While most of my friends are busy with holiday baking, I can’t even summon enough motivation to make myself a batch of ginger molasses cookies to go with the eggnog. I’ve taken to cook a big batch of something on weekends and reheat small portions for dinner every night. In this cold spell, big batch of something automatically means slow cooker recipe at my house. Week one was chicken stew. Last week was lentil soup. This week’s selection was Chicken Curry In A Hurry.

Berry Burst Bar

I am so embarrassed. I extol the virtue of whole foods and sing praises for locally sourced ingredients. Today I fall from grace harder than ever before thanks to a batch of Berry Burst Bar. With equal amount of disdain and glee, I put together these holiday treats using highly processed ingredients that covered my whole kitchen counter. Alice Waters, I beg your forgiveness.

It all began innocently enough, as things like this tend to go. I had a craving for Rice Krispies Squares last weekend. My ankle was recovering well from surgery and I could finally walk to the grocery store without much discomfort. I bought a box of cereal and a bag of marshmallows. I made a batch of Malted Browned Butter Rice Krispies Squares (recipe coming next week) which made me ridiculously happy. I was left with half a box of cereal. Then things got out of hand.

When Laziness Calls, Ploughman's Lunch Answers

Holiday season is a busy time for most and it is easy to let regular meal planning slide when you’re occupied by a million other things on the to-do list. Personally, I am taking a laid back attitude about holiday planning and let myself off the hook this year for tree trimming, gift shopping, and even holiday baking. But that doesn’t mean I am devoting time to regular meal planning either. Sitting with my foot elevated continues to be a big part of my post-surgery recovery plan. The stitches were gone since Friday and my doctor was very pleased with the healing progress. Although I can now walk for short period of time at a normal pace without signs of limping, standing for hours in the kitchen is still not a good idea yet. I too need quick and easy meal ideas.

One of my favourite dinner requiring minimal preparation is a Ploughman’s Lunch. With a pantry full of preserves I made in warmer months, this is a great option to incorporate chutneys and pickles into my meal too. Last weekend, I visited Wychwood Farmer’s Market and brought home enough goodies to create this beautiful platter.

Jeni's Splendid Inspiration

Happy National Cookie Day! I did not bake today nor yesterday. Neither did last week, actually. Since my ankle surgery last Monday, I put all effort into recovery and that means I spend the majority of my time sitting or lying down. I am ridiculously restless and develop a habit of talking myself out of cooking or baking anything. I am blessedly stocked up with a beautiful assortment of cookies at home though. My friends and I got together the day prior to my surgery for our annual cookie swap. The selection and quality set a high standard for future years to surpass.

My contribution was Bangkok Peanut Blossom. It was inspired by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream’s Bangkok Peanut ice cream by way of David Lebovitz’s Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies. Crumbly peanut butter cookies were flavoured with the zing of ground ginger and cayenne. The salted caramel filling was packed with roasted peanuts, coconut, and more cayenne. I made the peanut butter cookies before as per Lebovitz’s recipe and loved the result. My original plan was an encore of this tried-and-true recipe especially since I adore the festive addition of dark chocolate drizzle. I procrastinated for a few days. Out of the blue, I recalled the exotic and unexpected flavour combination I experienced with the Bangkok Peanut ice cream. The rest was history.